CPD

Individual Support for Parents during Pregnancy and Birth

Paperback, 208 pages, 98 illustrations Published by Elsevier August 2003 Books for Midwives ISBN 0 7506 5523 2 Price £19.99

Shiatsu for Midwives, Suzanne Yates with Tricia Anderson, 2003.

Editor's Note: This title is available at www.midwiferytoday.com .

One of the beautiful things about midwifery is the willingness of its practitioners to search beyond the status quo for treatment modalities. Shiatsu - an ancient Japanese form of massage in which pressure points are stimulated - is one practice that midwives have enthusiastically embraced in recent decades. It is yet another respectful, noninvasive way to help pregnant women maintain optimal health.

The authors first offer an overview of shiatsu, define key concepts, and then describe the childbearing year from a shiatsu perspective. The latter is an important primer in energy changes during pregnancy, effects on the organs, baby's energy in utero and during labor and changes in the early postnatal period. The reader will understand, from this perspective, how to support a healthy body in its natural functions and rhythms.

In section three, the authors tell readers how to roll up their sleeves and get started. With the help of numerous photographs, line drawings and diagrams, sidebars with step-by-step instructions and highly readable text, chapter one of this section guides the midwife through basic principles and applications. Using the same teaching aides, chapter two homes in on specific areas of the body-back, neck/head/shoulders, abdomen, legs and feet, arms and hands-and explains the benefits of working in these areas. Case studies described in sidebars illuminate the text. The third chapter in this section includes shiatsu for the newborn, with supporting photographs and diagrams.

If all that weren't enough, the authors include a section about shiatsu for self healing - a wonderful way to empower pregnant women to care for themselves wisely and holistically. By no means is it a comprehensive chapter, but it provides enough for women to significantly support their own health and well being.

Appendices, a glossary and sample leaflets complete this useful guide. Yates and Anderson, both well-known and talented specialists in antenatal education and alternative therapies, have given midwifery a valuable tool for the childbearing year.

This is the review that appeared in Midwifery Today #72.

Articles

Book - Shiatsu for Midwives